


Devils Heart

by KoreFanFic



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adult Content, Adult Themes, Angels, Banshees, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexuality, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Dark, Dark Romance, Demons, Devil, F/F, F/M, Fallen Angels, Fantasy, Fighting, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Fantasy, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Satan - Freeform, Shape Shifters, Shapeshifting, Swearing, Vampires, Werewolves, capmus, the Devil - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23212585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoreFanFic/pseuds/KoreFanFic
Summary: Mara Morningstar is unique. In a world where your darkest nightmares walk the street, Mara still stands above them all. Monsters, vampires and demons alike are all common place, but nothing sends a chill down your spine faster than the presence of the Spawn of Satan. Literally.Born to THE demon Himself and her Angel Mother, Mara is one of a kind, nothing like her has ever exsisted before, and likely wont again. Which makes gaining control of your powers extremely difficult. Espescially when your own Father can only be around for a single day every 6 months.After being thrown out of countless school, campuses and training facilities, Mara's last hope is Blood Iron Campus, an exclusive and highly respected Camp for all nightmares, demons and things that go bump in the night. Here they will help Mara control and master and varying abilities and powers. Hopefully.
Relationships: Mara Morningstar/Gabriel Waters
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1.

“Okay, we’re here! You ready?” Ariel Morningstar's singsong voice danced around the inside of the dark blue Volkswagen she sat in with her daughter. Mara Morningstar rolled her golden yellow eyes and leaned against the window, letting out a sigh. 

“Do I really have to go? I’m too old for school.” Mara folded her arms across her chest, the leather from her jacket creaking gently. Her mother leaned the small distance between them and laid a soft, beige coloured hand on Mara's leg, trying to avoid the large holes in her daughters' jeans, looking out the front windshield as she spoke gently.

“Sweetie, I know you don’t want to do this, but we have no other options left. Everywhere else has failed to help you control your abilities and your father and I am worried what will happen if there’s another “incident” like the last one-”

“It was an accident! I didn’t mean to hurt her!” Mara snapped, venom oozing from her voice, but a slither of pain sneaking through her harsh defence. She still couldn’t get her ex-girlfriends screams out of her nightmares, no matter how many times she tried. Ariel turned her head to look at her daughter, who was now glaring fiercely out her window.

“I know it was. I know. And I know you don’t want that to happen again, that’s why you’ve avoided using any of your powers since it happened. However, what if you keep repressing it and one day it can’t be repressed any more? What then? I’d rather you knew how to control it than risk hurting someone you cared about again,” Ariel’s pale violet eyes were glistening in the darkness of the car, her long raven black hair fell around her heart-shaped face in thick waves. Sharp, high cheekbones sat neatly under her glittering eyes, her thin nose pointing upwards at the tip but despite her strong, striking features her expression was soft and kind, hiding the anguish she felt in her gut as she spoke, her thick top lip and thin lower lip showing no sign of the quivering her heart was doing.

The pain she held for her daughter right now was almost crippling. Nothing hurt her more than seeing her own child upset, but what was worse was seeing her shut down completely. Aside from the odd loud outburst of swearing when things got too much, Mara hadn’t shown an inch of emotion in nine months. She hadn’t laughed, or cried, or even smiled since what happened and Ariel was terrified Mara might never be able to forgive herself for what happened, even though it wasn’t her fault. 

“Then why can’t Dad teach me? Surely he would know how? It’s all from his side isn’t it?” Mara finally turned her head towards her mother, her yellow eyes like gleaming headlights in the dull light. Her hair was black like her mothers but impossibly straight, almost looking like black granite sheets when it was down, but for now, 

Mara wore it in a high ponytail, pulling it all away from her pale, almost crystal white face. Her complexion came from her fathers' side, and it contrasted shockingly with her hair from her mother. She shared a lot of the same facial features as her mother, heart-shaped face, strong cheekbones, thick top lip, line bottom lip, although Maras were a darker shade of pink than her mothers, her eyes blazing like molten gold and changing with her temper were from her father. She would stand out in any crowd, even among other monsters. Which was exactly where they were. Parked right outside the infamous Blood Iron Campus, a training retreat for the most difficult in demons and nightmares alike. 

Apparently, they focused on the rarer kinds of abilities, or those with extremely strong powers that needed “special handling” and if anyone needed special handling it was Mara. There was no one rarer than her. She was one of a kind. The only one of her kind. A cross between angel and demon. But not just any demon. THE demon. 

Iblis.

Mephistopheles.

Old Scratch.

Al-Shaitan.

The Devil.

Satan.

No matter what title people used, it always had the same effect. Mortals cowered in fear, locked their doors and threw up their crucifixes in some feeble belief that a small oddly shaped stick would stop one of the most powerful and feared creatures from hurting them. Non-Mortals though, that was a different story. 

Over the last twenty-two years, Mara had been privy to every kind of reaction to her fathers' name you could imagine. Fear, amazement, admiration, disbelief, disgust, and downright hatred. Not everyone was a fan of the “The Evil One” despite themselves being less than holy. Some even had a twisted notion that her father was the reason the mortals fear them. Like he had given all creatures of darkness a bad name. Not like they were all still just as awful before he was around. 

Ariel let out a heavy sigh and gripped her daughter's leg once before leaning back in the driver's seat and letting her head fall back into the headrest and closing her eyes.

“Mara we’ve been over this. You know the way it is. He can come here once every six months for one day, how much do you expect to get done in that time? How long do you think it would take?” 

“But I could go-”

“No!” Ariels head snapped up and she glared at her daughter in the passenger seat, any light that had been radiating from her violet eyes gone and replaced with dark grey clouds of anger. Her thin eyebrows were deeply indented on her forehead and the entire car went cold as a mix of fear and anger flared in her face. “I won't allow it! For all you know if you set foot there you’ll be stuck just like him and I’m not losing you too!” It was Maras turn to lean over the distance between them and comfort her mother. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I’ll drop it,” Mara said quietly, knowing when to back down when it came to her mothers' emotions. Almost instantly the darkness lighted from her eyes and left a watery purple mist in her eyes. Ariel straightened her shoulders and placed her hand on Maras. The contrast was so strong, no one could be blamed for doubting they were related by blood. 

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to snap at you. But I lost your father to that damned place I won't lose you to it too,” Ariel reached up with her other hand and wiped away at the tear threatening to streak down her face.

“Pun intended?” Mara raised a curved eyebrow at her mother and relaxed when the woman choked on a laugh.

“No, but if it works to break the tension, then sure. Now let's get your bags, yeah?” Ariel looked up at her child and smiled. 

Despite Mara being far from a child any more, Ariel could not see her as anything but her tiny, dark-haired baby. Crying and giggling, or screaming and kicking, or even setting things on fire as a toddler for her own amusement. 

Ariel had basically raised her lone, what with her husband being locked away for six months at a time. She had no choice. By right she couldn’t set foot there and for all she knew neither could Mara. Despite Mara having Lucifer Morningstar's blood in her veins, they still didn’t know if it was enough to outweigh Ariel's angel blood, which was horrifically forbidden. Trying to cross the threshold could lead to instant death, and with Mara being the only half angel half devil in existence, it was impossible to tell what the rules were surrounding her afterlife. 

Would she even get one? Would she be allowed in either? Mara had said many times she knew where she wanted to go if given the choice. To be with her father. It was only fair in her eyes. She spends her living life with her mother and then her afterlife with her father. But would that even be the way? These thoughts kept Ariel up at night, although she had never told Mara any of them, she didn’t want to scare her. She needed to keep as much of the darkness away from Mara as she could. The girl had been through enough as it was. 

The sound of Mara talking and opening her car door jolted Ariel from her thoughts. She gave herself a small shake and unclicked her seatbelt and opened her own door. Cold wind and dust attacked her eyes, sending her hair into thick swirls around her and she blinked furiously, lifting her arm to shield her face from the rest of the chilled onslaught of dirt and dust around her. 

Mara rounded the car and she clicked the button on the boot of the dark blue bucket of metal and rust and yanked the door open, letting it go so it soared above her head and stopped with a clank as the mechanism on the car stopped it flying completely off. Throwing her khaki coloured duffel bag over her shoulder, Mara stretched up on the toes of her black combat boots and pulled the boot door back down, having to force it down a couple times until she heard the "click" of the automatic lock.

_Damn thing needs to be scrapped!_ Mara thought to herself as she rounded the stupid thing again and looked at her mother, who was looking up at the large iron gates before them. Both women stood at similar heights, their slender figures mirroring each other, the only difference being that Mara had wider shoulders and a slightly bigger built upper body from her daily gym sessions, as they both stood in the cold wind and looked up the gravel path at the large, old building in front of them. 

Blood Iron Campus towered over them, creating an uneasy hollow feeling in Mara's stomach. From what could be seen from where they were standing, Blood Iron seemed to be a large Victorian-style house, possibly an old hotel considering its sheer size, with at least three stories from the looks of it. 

Nestled behind large wrought iron gates, that Mara guessed were fifteen feet at least, the thick gravel path continued on to the rickety-looking porch of the house. Cream coloured stone and dark green wood siding wrapped around the body of it, laced in dark green wooden trim that Mara assumed was cleaner when it was new, but now it was chipped and decaying and some parts were clearly missing the smaller details that used to decorate it. The building itself seemed to go on forever, a large wing branched off to the left, behind some large pine trees while another, presumably smaller wing jutted out to the right. The entire thing was shadowed underneath a dark grey, imposing, multi-faceted roof. Some of the shingles were missing or broken in places, presumably from the rough weather. 

Sullen looking windows peppered the green wood, seemingly all must have had dark blinds or curtains drawn as there was no movement coming from the behind the old, dust-coated glass. 

It reminded Mara of those old doll houses you saw on TV and in movies, the ones that lay at the bottom of a little girls bed right before some monster crawled out from under the bed and ate her. Ironic really, considering the larger than life dollhouse probably housed all of those monsters and more. 

The air was also eerily quiet. Aside from the groaning of some of the nearby pine trees in the wind and the occasional rustling of leaves being thrown along the ground, not a sound was coming from behind the imposing-looking gates. 

Mara turned to her mother and shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess we better get going then?” A hint of apprehension in her voice.

“It’ll be fine, sweetie,” Ariel reassured her, rubbing her daughter's broad shoulder with her hand before making the first steps towards the large gates in front of them.

“It has to be,” said Mara to herself, her words getting lost in the wind.

Letting out a deep sigh, Mara gripped her bag strap tight over her shoulder, as her mother pressed the button on her keys to lock the car, letting the sound of it automatically locking fade into the wind behind them as they made their way towards the entrance. 

Mara caught sight of herself in the reflection of another car parked a few feet in front of her and stopped, staring at herself for a second. The wild weather was sending her raven black ponytail in multiple directions at once, almost causing it to fan out behind her. Her pale, white skin was almost glowing in comparison to her dark hair and eyebrows, that right now were raised slightly as she gazed at herself. Normally her sharp, strong facial features were furrowed into a scowl, causing her a seemingly permanent dent between her shockingly yellow eyes. This time however Mara could see the worry on her own face very clearly.

If this stay at Blood Iron didn’t help her control her “powers” that was it. There was nowhere else to go for help and then what? Would she just be doomed to lose control and set fire to everything around her for the rest of her life? How many more times could she handle blacking out and waking up hours later, cold, sore and covered in dirt, blood and god knows what else? How many more screams would join Ambers in her nightmares if this didn’t work? 

Tugging firmly on her black leather jacket and giving herself a shake, Mara shifted her face from deep-seated worry to one of cold indifference. She couldn’t have people thinking that the Spawn of Satan was afraid. 

_I’m not afraid of anything. I’m a Morningstar, we don’t do afraid_ , she lied to herself as she broke eye contact with her own glittering yellow irises and headed towards the gates, her mothers almost glowing presence lighting the way, her head held high and her worry shoved deep down into her black combat boots. 


	2. Chapter 2.

Standing in the main foyer of the building, Mara felt a shiver go down her spine. 

“Are you sure I need to get control of this thing? What if I just took some beta-blockers or something? That’d suppress it right?” Mara whispered, only half-joking. 

“Mara, I’m going to miss your silliness while you’re here. Just like your Dad.” Ariel whispered back

“You’re the one who keeps making those god-awful puns he likes so much,” Mara retorted as she looked around the large room curiously.

Decorated in dark reds and browns, the foyer had a warm if slightly daunting feel to it. Dark, waxed wooden flooring stretched out across the entire room, wrought iron candelabras lined the deep red wallpapered walls around them, none of the white candles lit, but still beautiful, a large ageing chandelier hung above their heads. A large loudly ticking grandfather clock cowered in the far left corner of the foyer, filling the silence as they waited.

To Mara’s left were two staircases, one which curved and headed upstairs and another which seemed to lead straight downstairs, both made of solid dark wood and looked like they were waxed regularly. To the right were two large sliding doors, closed, with a large elaborate engraving of a raven spread across them, its wings outstretched across both panels. A small deep red love-seat was nestled to the left of the doors, with an elegant golden trim around the backrest and arms, that looked to fancy to actually sit on and on the right of the doors was a large floor to ceiling mirror that was built into the wall itself. It also looked like it was cleaned recently and Mara wondered absently if the place had staff that did this or if taking care of the building was part of being here. She hoped for the former. She hated cleaning with a passion.

In the centre of the room, sat a small round coffee table, with a very delicate looking black vase, full to the brim with red roses placed neatly in the middle. The vase was surrounded by a dozen or so copies of the flyer Mara had been presented with a month ago, when her mother had told her she was coming here. Straight ahead was an open archway, leading to what appeared to be another foyer, with a small dining table and chairs right in the middle, from where she was standing Mara couldn’t see much more of the other room. 

Just as Mara hitched up on her toes to try to get a better look at the rest of the room, her view was obscured by a tall, dark figure emerging in the archway, and she quickly dropped back on her heels. 

A tall, pale-skinned woman stood before them, her copper-red hair pulled up into a tight bun on top of her head. Her long face was filled with striking features, long strong nose, thin dark lips, high sharp cheekbones and a fine jawline that looked like you would break your hand off if you punched it. If you had the nerve to try. The aura radiating off this woman was so dark and forceful you could almost taste it. This was not a woman to mess with. Her black shirt was tucked into her dark high waisted grey pencil skirt and her long legs covered in fine fishnets and ended with shiny red stiletto shoes.

But the most noticeable part of this woman was her eyes. Mara had never seen a purer shade of blue in her life. Like someone had carved out two pieces of the clearest sky and placed them behind her eyelids, they were gleaming, even from all the way across the room. 

“Ah! You must be the infamous Morningstars! Welcome to Blood Iron Campus! Home to the best and most gifted of nightmares! I’m Mistress Vale. It’s lovely to meet you,” Her voice was sweet, but there was something acidic about the way she said their surname that put Mara on edge. 

“Yes, we are. I’m Ariel and this is my daughter Mara. It’s lovely to meet you too,” Ariel replied, gesturing towards Mara with one hand. 

Mistress Vale made her way gracefully towards them, the sound of her heels clicking overthrew the sound of the grandfather clock in the corner. There was something about her expression that was just ever so slightly off but Mara couldn’t put her finger on it.

“It’s a pleasure to have you. It’s not everyday Blood Iron gets to host royalty,” Vale stopped a foot in front of them and bowed her head towards them both and Mara grimaced. 

“Uhm, no. We aren’t royalty. Don’t be st-”

“What Mara means is,” Ariel interrupted before Mara could call the woman she had just met stupid. “Is that’s a bit dramatic. We aren’t royalty. Far from it actually.”

Vale waved her hand around her head as if to dismiss Ariels statement.

“Oh come now, don’t be shy. We all know who you’re married to. If being the wife and daughter of the renown Prince of Darkness doesn’t make you part of a monarchy, I don’t know what does.” There was that acid in her voice again. Her crystal blue eyes narrowed as she dropped her slender hand to her side and the faintest of smirks crossed her face.

“I’m sorry, correct me if I’m wrong, but do I sense a bit of hostility from you, Mistress Vale?” 

“Now why ever would I be hostile?” Vale's voice turned icy, her eyes narrowed as she leaned over Ariel, her hands clasped behind her back as she leered at the small woman in front of her. “Especially not towards the family that gave all of us a bad name by association. It’s not like your husband is the reason we have to live in secret. Hidden behind wards and protections from witches and warlocks for an entire millennia. It’s not like I was forced to accept your daughter here purely because the Council demanded it. It’s not like if it was up to me her application would have been rejected on sight. I have the utmost respect for someone who would abandon their faith for a monster.” 

The room around then abruptly grew darker, cold dark mist seeming to seep out from under Ariels feet into the foyer around them. Mara took a subtle step to the side, shoving her hands in her jeans pockets as her mother took a deep breath in before she spoke.

“It’s a good thing you aren’t being hostile then because that wouldn’t be a very smart thing to do. Not if you were someone who cherished the roof you were standing under,” Ariel's voice had lowered to an almost growl as she spoke, her violet eyes turning a deep, almost black shade of purple. 

Mara watched as the pale Mistress before her seemed to go grey as she was hit with the cold glare of the fallen angel in front of her. Slowly she leaned backwards, her eyes growing wide and the gleam dropping from them almost immediately. 

“I don’t care for any preconceived notions you have about me, my daughter or my husband. You keep them to yourself. I didn’t abandon anything. I found my family. Which you will treat with the same amount of respect as you do everyone else here. Or I will rip this place to the ground and bury you under the remains. Do you understand?” The once foreboding woman almost seemed to cower before them. 

She glanced at Mara, either in a silent plea for help or just to confirm what she was seeing was real. Mara shrugged at her with indifference. What exactly had she expected? You don’t stay married to Satan himself and not be able to stand up for yourself. 

Vale looked back down at the small woman before her, the mist surrounding their feet getting darker and colder. Mara could see a shiver run down the taller woman’s back before she opened her mouth, which was probably turning blue underneath her dark lipstick.

“Y-Yes. I understand,” was all the managed to get out. 

As quickly as it had appeared, the mist dissipated and the cold in the air was gone as if someone had flipped a switch. Ariel tugged on her shirt, straightening it and smiled gloriously up at Vale.

“Perfect! Now, what’s next? A tour of the campus? I’ve seen the map in the flyer but nothing like seeing it yourself, right sweetie?” She turned to her daughter and Mara nodded, fighting the urge to smile wickedly at the put down that Vale had just been given. She still looked shaken and cold, and Mara was guessing she was reconsidering all her life choices right about now. 

Mara herself had never been on the receiving end of that level of anger from her mother before, but her father had. And if it can reduce the Devil to a pleading apologetic mess, then Mara couldn’t imagine how terrifying it was. She had asked him afterwards what so was scary about some fog and cold but he’d explained it was more than that. It was like being faced with all your greatest fears tenfold and you were rooted to the spot, no way of escape and no way to ask for help. He’d looked haunted just thinking about it and then begged Mara to never, ever anger her mother as he had. She’d agreed very quickly.

“I will get someone to show you around. I have some other business to attend to. Please wait here,” Vale nodded towards them both and turned on her heel without another word, heading back through the archway.   
Mara turned to raise an eyebrow at her mother, who just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. 

“Oh don’t give me that look, Mara. She was being a bitch,” Ariel snorted as she turned to admire one of the candelabras next to her.

“Yeah, but did you have to go full Angel of Death on her? You get to leave after that. I have to bloody live here!” Mara pointed out, leaning against the wall behind her and crossing her ankles as she watched her mother.

“Yes. But remember Halen High? That moron there tried that stuff too. I did nothing and what did he do?”

“Yeah, yeah I remember. Fair point,” Mara didn’t need reminding of the headteacher who tried to set her up for literally everything that went wrong while she was at Halen High School. That was one of the only times she left a school for something that wasn’t her fault. 

They stood in silence for a couple minutes, Ariel casually walking around the foyer, checking out the grandfather clock as she passed it, Mara staring off into space not really thinking of anything. They were both startled when they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat by the archway.

They both turned their heads at the same time to see a young guy, about Maras age standing in the archway, his hands behind his back. He was tall, taller than Mara’s five foot seven height, by a good few inches, making her guess he was about six foot. His blonde hair fell around his face and stopped just short of his ears in an untamed mess around his head, his broad shoulders were toned, muscular and pulled back, his strong looking arms wrapped up nicely in his long-sleeved black baseball shirt. Long legs were covered in blue denim and ended in black converse. Deep green eyes looked between the two women standing before him.

_He’s cute,_ Mara thought to herself as she looked him up and down. 

“Oh! Hello!” Ariel spoke first.

“Hello. I’m Gabriel. I’ve been asked by Mistress Vale to show you both around the campus if that’s okay with you?” His voice was husky as he spoke. His deep green eyes came in contact with Maras and she felt her throat go dry. 

_Okay, yeah, he’s more than cute. He’s hot. Shit._ Mara kicked herself mentally. _No. This was not the time._

“That would be wonderful! Where do we start?” Ariel clapped her hands together and motioned for Gabriel to take the lead. He nodded politely and walked passed her and over towards the front door.

He pulled it open, a cold wind bursting through and ruffling his blonde hair as he waved his hand for them to go first. 

“If you leave your bag here, someone will be right down to take it to your room for you,” Gabriel said as Mara picked up the duffel off the floor.

“Oh- uh. No that’s fine. I can carry it. It’s not heavy,” Mara gripped the handle of the bag tighter. There wasn’t a force alive that could get her to just leave her bag for anyone to go through.

“Are you sure? It’s no trouble,” Gabriel asked softly, eyeing the bag in Mara’s hands.

“I’m sure,” She replied shortly, pulling the bag over her shoulder.

Ariel stepped between them and rubbed Mara’s arm reassuringly.

“You’ll have to excuse Mara. She’s funny about her privacy. I don’t even know what’s in that thing. Let's go see this campus then!” Ariel skipped past the two of them, her dark curls bouncing behind her as she went.

Mara smiled awkwardly at Gabriel as she passed through the door after her mother. As she stepped out on to the rickety porch, Gabriel leaned in behind her and said quietly, “Don’t worry about it. We all have our secrets.”


	3. Chapter 3.

“And remember to call me whenever you get a chance!” Ariel fussed as she hugged her daughter tight at the foot of the porch. Mara rolled her eyes as she hugged her back, the leather of her jacket squeaking loudly in her ears. They had finished their tour of the campus and Gabriel had went inside to wait for them to say goodbye. Ariel hadn’t stopped talking since the door had closed behind him.

“Yeah, sure,” Mara muttered as the small woman in her arms rambled on.

“And don’t forget we have a date on the first of the month! You can’t miss it or he’ll be devastated!” Ariel pointlessly reminded her of her fathers semi-annual visit. How was she supposed to forget one of the only times a year she could see him? It was saved in her phone, on her calender and pretty much engraved into the back of her eyelids. She lived for those two days out of the year.

“I know! Damn it, can I go already?” Mara threw her head back, exasperated with her mothers constant fussing. She did this every time Mara had to go somewhere. She was twenty two years old not a child. She didn’t need this.

Ariel sighed and let go of her daughter, clearing her throat and sniffing to herself. She was trying not to cry and was clearly losing the battle. 

“You’re right. Sorry. It’s just, I’m going to miss you! I’m all alone when you’re gone,” Ariel took a step back, straightening her shoulders and looking up at Mara, her violet eyes swimming with almost tears.

“Don’t be dramatic. You’ll have Redrum,” Mara tried to reassure her, a pang in her stomach at the thought of not seeing her large doberman dog for however long she was here for.

“I hate that your father talked me into letting you name him that,” Ariel grumbled. Mara laughed at her and picked up her duffel bag off the ground.

“Okay, fine. I’ll come home. We forget this whole stupid thing and I can just go around blowing shit up! Deal?”   
Ariel grimaced at her daughters words, before shaking her head and sighing again.

“Don’t start. I’m allowed to make a fuss. I’m your mother its my job!”

“And so is threatening my teachers half to death, apparently,” Mara looked over her shoulder at the door behind her. She could already tell she wasn’t going to be welcome here. Expect by maybe Gabriel, he’d seemed nice, holding doors open for her and her mother and never seeming bothered by all of Ariels questions, often asking Mara what she thought of the place, not that she’d said much. 

Mara had spent most of the tour following behind them both, occasionally checking out Gabriel from behind as they went from place to place. The guy was attractive and Mara couldn’t help herself from glancing at his ass a few times during their walk around the campus.

The campus was huge, the grounds consisting of a large indoor swimming pool, a fully stocked gym, it’s own running track, designated sparring grounds, an assault course and even had its own forest out towards the back. Gabriel had explained to them both that the forest was a preferred hang out spot for the more “animalist natured” of the school and was often used for ability training for shape shifters and werewolves who had less control over their abilities. 

He had explained that the main building itself, which was actually named Blood Iron House, was split into four levels, the main level they had came into was were the dinner hall and staff offices were kept, the two floors upstairs were all dorm rooms, where everyone shared with one room-mate, something Mara was not exactly excited about. The underground level was where the “unexciting classes” happened, according to Gabriel. 

During his run down of the campus he’d also ran out a list of all the types of “nightmares” that Blood Iron housed. Mara wasn’t surprised to hear that almost every type of “monster” was trained here, including vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, witches and even two banshee siblings. Gabriel had commented that he was unfamiliar with the siblings as they mostly kept to themselves and they’d only been there for a few weeks. But with that said the amount of people actually enrolled was quite small. Blood Iron was for the “lost causes” and those in need of the most help. Mara definitely fit that criteria.

He’d also told them he was a vampire and apparently so was Mistress Vale, not that you could tell from looking at them. Well maybe Vale. She did give off undead blood sucker vibes. 

“Mara, are you going to be okay?” Ariel asked, ripping Mara from her thoughts. She gave herself a shake and nodded firmly. 

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Nothing I haven’t done before. Now go home! I need to go unpack,” Mara hitched a thumb over her shoulder towards the house. Ariel nodded solemnly.

“Okay. I’ll go. And if that awful woman gives you any grief, you phone me okay?” Ariel grabbed Mara’s arm and gripped it hard as she lowered her voice as she spoke.

“Calm down, woman. I’m an adult, I can handle myself,” She shrugged her mothers hand off with a small laugh.   
After another hug, Ariel was on her way down the path as Mara pulled her bag over her shoulder and turned, headed up the wooden steps. 

As she reached to open the large engraved door, Mara stopped, her hand hovering inches from the brass handle. She had an awful sense of deja-vu and she didn’t like it. Here she was again, saying goodbye to her mother, heading into yet another place that claimed they could “help” her. She knew how the next few months would go. She’d be shunned, ignored and even harassed for who her father was. People whispering behind her back, following her, watching her, wondering when the big scary demon was going to come out. It would inevitably get worse once news got around, if it hadn’t already, about the reason Mara was here. It wasn’t exactly a “good” reason to be sent to a place in the ass end of nowhere for troubled demons.

Could she really go through this all over again? So far she’d managed to only control a tiny part of her “powers” or whatever people called it. Mara hadn’t seen anything that could convince her these people would make any progress. One thing she was sure of though, was that this would be her last attempt. If this didn’t help then she was giving up. She was twenty-two and she had already spent longer than she would of liked in these places. If this failed too, she was putting her foot down and going it alone. She’d figure it out somehow. 

The door swung open with a creak, causing Mara to jump, coming almost nose to nose with Gabriel.

“Oh shit! Sorry! I was coming to check if everything was okay.” Mara could feel his hot breath on her face and something in her brain short circuited, taking away her ability to speak. Instead she stared at him, her eyes wide, frozen in place. They were inches apart and he either didn’t seem to be aware of how close they were or didn’t care. From this close she could see the faint buzz of stumble spread across his chin and jawline. He really was quite attractive, even by Mara’s standards, which were pretty high.

_Simmer down. Remember what happened last time._ Mara internally cringed at the intrusive thought. She didn’t want a repeat of that.

It took Mara a solid few seconds before she could pick her thoughts up and form a response.

“Uh yeah. I’m good. She always takes forever to say goodbye. You’d think she’d be used to it by now,” Mara gestured behind her, looking over her shoulder to see her mother was gone, the gate closed behind her. 

“Well, let’s get you shown to your room then!” He finally took a step back and waved his hand for Mara to enter the house. She smiled timidly, grateful he wasn’t in her face any more, and dashed passed him and didn’t stop until she reached the foot of the staircase. Gabriel closed the door behind her and caught up in seconds and they both made their way up the curving steps. Mara had been right, they made an awful croaking noise as they climbed, every step giving out an aged groan.

“I heard your mother had a bit of a showdown with Vale?” Gabriel gave Mara a smirk as they climbed higher. These stairs felt like they went on forever.

“You heard about that? Yeah. Mom has a bit of a temper on her. Doesn’t help she’s really sensitive,” Mara replied quickly, trying her best to sound indifferent about what had happened in the foyer earlier. The last thing she needed was to sound like she had enjoyed that little incident. No matter how much she had.

“Don’t worry about it. Vales a piece of work. She originally wanted this place to be another all vamp school but the Council told her they had enough of those already, so she could only get a permit if she opened it to everyone. No exceptions,” Gabriel gave her a wink as he finished. Mara let out a sigh. At least she wasn’t the only one who didn’t seem to like her new “Mistress”.

“So, you’ve been to a lot of places like this then?” Gabriel questioned as they reached the first landing and he nodded his head to the left, as Mara followed him. The hall was narrow and dimly lit, laced in doors down both sides, wrought iron scones settled high up on the dark purple walls. The two of them were almost bumping shoulders as they walked together.

“Huh? Oh yeah. A few. They weren’t very good. That’s why I’m here. What about you?” Mara tried to quickly draw the attention away from herself. She didn’t really feel like getting into exactly how many of “these places” she’d actually been to over the years. Her teen years had been alot of moving about. 

“I’ve only been to one besides here, do you know St Peters?” Gabriel asked as he checked the numbers on the room doors on either side.

“The all vampire school up in the mountains? Yeah I’ve heard of it. It’s almost impossible to get into,” Mara couldn’t help but be impressed. St Peters was one of the most elitist vampire schools in the country. 

“Yeah, but it turns out its also super easy to get kicked out of,” Gabriel stopped abruptly outside one of the doors, with a large brass number “eighteen” on it.

“Yeah? What did you do?” Mara’s curiosity was peaked. He didn’t look the type to get kicked out of school, then again she didn’t look like the type to set an entire dorm on fire, and she’d done that easy enough.

“I got caught-” 


	4. Chapter 4.

The door they were standing outside swung open to reveal a short woman, with deep purple hair, pulled up into two large messy buns on her head and a face full of freckles. She was dressed in a dozen different shades of purple, her face covered in piercings and a small collection of black stars tattooed down her neck. She stopped dead when she saw them standing in the hall and her grey eyes danced between them both.

“Gabe? Who’s this?” Her voice was high and innocent and her tiny stature drove that idea home. 

“This,” Gabriel waved his hand at Mara as he spoke, “Is your new room-mate. Mara, this is Elora, Elora, this is Mara.”

“For the millionth time it’s Ellie!” She narrowed her eyes at Gabriel before her gaze met Maras and she squealed. “Oh! You’re the new start! Well come in! We can get you unpacked and settled! It’s so nice to meet you! I’m excited to have a room mate! I haven’t had one since I started!” Her voice rose higher as she got more excited as she spoke. Something about her excitement to see Mara made her relax a fraction. At least she wasn’t running down the hall in terror. 

“I shall leave you in the capable hands of our most eccentric witch. I’ll hopefully see you later, Mara,” Gabriel laughed as he gave a dramatic bow towards them both and headed down the hall. 

“Thanks. You too,” Mara watched him walk away, a tiny bubble of curiosity building in the back of her head. What had he been caught doing?

Ellie jumped in front of her, waving excitedly at the back of Gabriel’s head and then turned to face Mara, her entire body seeming to shake with excitement. 

“Let’s get you inside! You’re going to love it here!” She gave one final jump as she spoke.

She let out a high pitched squeak before she darted passed Mara, kicking the door open as she went. Ellie stood in the middle of the door frame and swung her arms out around her. 

“Welcome to my little corner of comfort!” She backed into the room, her eyes glittering as she never took them off Mara. 

As she stepped over the threshold of the room Mara was hit with the overpowering smell of cinnamon hit her nose and she fought the urge to scrunch up her nose in response. She didn’t necessarily dislike the smell of cinnamon but when you were hit it so suddenly and so much of it, it was hard not to want to pinch your nose.

Looking around, the room looked as Mara would expect giving the appearance of its current inhabitant. The pale cream walls were covered in hand drawn letters and notes, most of which looked like spells and rituals, all written in different coloured purple ink and stuck around randomly. Two single beds lay at opposite ends of the room form each other, one almost bare aside from a pillow and a white sheet rolled up at the end, while the over was covered in dozens of throw pillows and blankets. Dream catches hung from the ceiling in various sizes and colours, some with large coloured feathers hanging from them, some an assortment of crystals dangling from each string. 

A large dark oak wood desk sat under the window, covered in papers and various crystals, small vials of things Mara didn’t recognise were sprawled across the surface, nothing labelled and nothing seeming to be in any form of order.

The floor was covered in mismatching rugs, all criss crossing over each other. The far left corner of the room, which was very obviously Mara’s side of the room, had recently been cleared for her coming, with stacks of books and piles of clothes stacked high to the side, leaving plenty room for whatever things Mara had brought with her. Although Mara didn’t need that much room. She hadn’t brought much. 

Before she could look at anything else in the room, Ellie bounced into her line of sight and beamed up at her gloriously, her eyes dancing in the light. 

“What do you think? I know its a bit cluttered but I can clean it up more! I’m just not used to have other people here so I kinda made use of all the space I had,” Ellie chirped, wringing her fingers together as she waited for Maras judgement of her home.

“You don’t need to do that, really! I think its great. It’s cosy,” Mara took another look around her head as she spoke. She meant it. The place had a “hidden cave” feel to it and there was something really appealing to her about that. 

“Fantastic! I can’t wait for you to meet the guys! They’re going to love you!” Ellie jumped backwards onto her bed, sending pillows flying in all directions. 

“Uh, the guys?” Mara eyed her cautiously as she made her way towards her own bed and threw her bag down beside it.

“Yeah. My friends! You can meet them when we go down for dinner! It’s my job to show you around and get you used to the routine around here. That’s what Vile Vale said anyway,” Ellie crossed her feet as she spoke, watching Mara with a look of manic amazement. 

“Vile Vale?” Mara quizzed.

“Oh. Yeah don’t let her hear you say that. But that’s what we call her. Childish as all shit I know, but she treats some of us like children so what does she expect?” Ellie shrugged as she picked at the tassels on one of her pillows.

“Fair enough. How bad is she?” Mara shrugged.

“She’s the devil!” Ellie leaned forward, her grey eyes going wide as she hugged her pillow tight against her chest.  
Mara raised an eyebrow at her.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Realisation flashed across Ellie’s tiny heart shaped face and she leapt off the bed to her feet, not that it made much difference to her height.

“Oh no I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that-” Her voice was panicked, her eyes wide, clearly thinking she’d offended her new room-mate.

“I’m kidding! Jeez! I know what you meant,” Mara waved her hands at the small panicked girl and watcher as Ellie’s tiny shoulders relaxed slightly, but not entirely. Mara laughed. “She didn’t seem very friendly when we got here. So she’s always like that?”

“Depends on what she was like when you got here. Was she all high and mighty and up her own ass?”

“Yeah, pretty much. And slightly threatening.”

“Yep. She’s always like that. Some days she’s like that and pissed off. It’s like someone stuck a porcupine in her desk chair. Those are the times you just gotta avoid her like the plague. She’s a fucking nightmare on those days.” Ellie stood in the centre of the room, playing with the holes in her purple fishnet top.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Mara muttered as she threw herself back on the bed. This was going to be a fun time.

“Most of the other people here are nice. A few bad apples but that’s to be expected. Not the people I hang out with though! They are the best! You’ll like them!” Elie spun on her heel and jumped back onto her bed, her feet flying into the air as she landed. 

“Thanks. But they might not like me,” Mara mumbled, her eyes lazily watching a dream catcher slowly spin above her head. It wasn’t often people even gave her the benefit of the doubt and she appreciated Ellie trying. She guessed it would make it easier if at least the person she was sharing a room with didn’t despise her. And to her credit, Ellie was trying to be nice and she genuinely seemed like a sweet girl, so maybe it was Mara’s turn to not be so hostile.

She sat upright on her new bed and glanced over at Ellie who was lying on her stomach. playing with a trinket that was hanging from her metal bed frame. From where Mara was sitting it looked like a small handmade bear, painted all the colours of the rainbow. Time for Mara to try and be nice.

_Here goes nothing._

“What’s that?” Mara asked, nodding towards the bear when Ellie glanced over at her. 

“Oh it’s just a little charm my friend made me. They like making them when they are bored. I made them a dream-catcher as a thank you for it!” Ellie sat up on her bed and held the bear up, letting it hang from her fingers and swing backwards and forwards. 

“They?” Mara picked up on Ellie’s choice in pro-noun. Her little eyes broke away from the dangling charm and looked at Mara with a mixture of confusion for a second before she shook her head and put the bear back on her bed frame.

“Yeah. They. Levi goes by they, not he or she. They’re a shifter see, and they had an incident that-” She bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from talking any more, before lifting her shoulders in an apologetic shrug.

“I should probably let Levi tell you that story if they want to. That’s not my place to say. But you’ll like them. They’re nice. Kinda quiet. But really nice. Levi’s my best friend here. My best friend anywhere if I’m honest.”   
Mara nodded firmly, pushing down the curiosity in her that wanted to ask what this “incident” was. But she knew better than to pry. 

“Noted. Levi is they. I don’t wanna piss anyone off any more than I already have,” Mara gave a short laugh that sounded hollow even to her ears. Ellie’s head jerked to the side as she looked her room-mate up and down.

“What do you mean by that? How could you piss anyone off when you just got here?”

“It’s what I do. My mere existence gets peoples backs up. I can piss off an entire room of people just by entering it. It’s a skill,” Mara shrugged, throwing herself back onto the bed with a loud flop. 

“That’s stupid,” Ellie retorted, her tiny nose crinkling in frustration.

“Fucking tell me about it,” Mara threw her arm over her eyes and sighed. 

“Well you’re my friend now and I’ll defend you till the edge of the earth!” Ellie chirped as she jumped to her feet again, scattering a few pillows over the floor, which she either didn’t notice, or ignored them. 

Mara moved her arm off her face and raised a curious eyebrow at the small bouncing ball of violet infront of her.  
“I’m you’re friend? We just met like four minutes ago.”

“Yep. I’ve decided. You’re my friend. If we weren’t it would make both our stays here miserable and I won’t allow that! Now come on!” Ellie dived across the room in one fluid motion and grabbed Maras leather clad forearm and yanked her with surprising ease to her feet. The tiny mouse of a girl was strong. She turned around and headed straight for the door, dragging Mara behind her as she threw the door open and marched her out of it into the hallway.

“Uh where are we going?” Mara tried to tug her arm back but she barley managed to budge it an inch from Ellies vice like grip.

“To meet the rest of your new friends!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “And they aren’t scared?” Mara almost stumbled as they reached the top of the stairs and Ellie let go of Mara’s arm as she stopped suddenly. The small girl turned to look at Mara, her face contorted into one of sheer confusion.
> 
> “Why on earth would they be scared of someone they’ve never met?” 
> 
> “Oh I dunno, maybe the whole Daddy’s the Devil thing? Being a literal demon? Who has no fucking idea what their powers are or how to control them?” Mara folded her arms across her chest as Ellie looked her up and down for a second.

“Do your friends know about me?” Mara asked as she continued to be dragged towards the stairs by the small purple pixie she was now sharing a room with. 

Damn this girl is fucking strong! Mara thought as she tried again to no avail to pull her arm out of her grip.

“Yep. You’ve been the talk of the whole house since last week!” Ellie said casually, clearly not picking up on the apprehension in Mara’s voice.

“And they aren’t scared?” Mara almost stumbled as they reached the top of the stairs and Ellie let go of Mara’s arm as she stopped suddenly. The small girl turned to look at Mara, her face contorted into one of sheer confusion.

“Why on earth would they be scared of someone they’ve never met?” 

“Oh I dunno, maybe the whole Daddy’s the Devil thing? Being a literal demon? Who has no fucking idea what their powers are or how to control them?” Mara folded her arms across her chest as Ellie looked her up and down for a second.

“Look, Mara, I don’t know how your used to being treated. I don’t know what you’ve been through but I can’t imagine it was very nice if you’ve come out this pessimistic,” She crossed her own arms across her tiny frame but her voice was still as soft and gentle as it had been since they met. “But here at Blood Iron we don’t care about people’s pasts. Everyone is here for their own reason. Most of them out of our control.” 

“I-I ... Thank you. I think,” Mara struggled to find the right words for what she meant. She wasn’t sure how to react.

“Now, are you going to come with me and meet my friends or are you going to stand at the top of the stairs like a sexy gothic suit of armour?” Ellie unfolded her arms and gestured down the stairs. Mara almost laughed, but settled instead of raising a thin black eyebrow at her new friend. 

“Sexy gothic suit of armour?” Her tone was softer than it had been all day, Ellie’s little speech making her feel strangely welcome and comfortable.

Ellie shrugged, trying to look un-phased but the slightest blush crossed her cheeks. “Yeah. I have a weakness for people in leather. Everyone does.” Without another word she spun around and literally bounced down the first two steps. Mara held in a snort. The girl actually bounces. Like a big purple tiger. 

“Are you coming or not?” She turned and looked at Mara over her shoulder, her big grey eyes glistening in the dim light of the hall. 

“Fine,” Mara rolled her eyes and stomped down the stairs passed the now beaming girl next to her. “But I can’t promise your friends will like me.”

“But I can promise you’ll like them!” She laughed as she caught up and stuck her arm around Mara’s.   
Both of them walked down the stairs in unison, with Ellie bouncing the entire way, in silence. Once they reached the bottom she let go of Mara’s arm so she could hop off the third step with a giggle. The girl was full of life, it was hard not to smile in her presence. And Mara probably would have had it not been for the cripple black cloud clogging her brain. 

Will she still be so happy to have me as a roommate when she finds out what I did? Mara couldn’t fight off the dark thought. She was almost certain that if anyone found out about what happened the whole “don’t care about your past” rule would go out the window. 

Mara didn’t have time to dwell on it though as Ellie dashed forward and yanked the front door open, letting a crisp breeze past her and smack Mara in the face. She shivered involuntarily, rubbing her arms as she followed the tiny ball of excitement outside. 

  
***

“Guys! Guys! Look!” Ellie yelled as she waved her arm above her at the sight for four people sitting around a small picnic table and all four heads snapped up, their eyes moving from the grinning witch to the stranger behind her.

“Ellie! Who have you adopted now?” A low voice called from the group as one of them go to their feet and strolled up to wrap an arm around Ellie’s tiny shoulders. 

“This is my new room mate! Mara, meet Levi. Levi, Mara,” Ellie waved her hand between the two of them happily. Levi was tall, with poker straight dirty blonde hair that framed their long face, large bright chestnut coloured eyes looked at Mara warmly as their lip ticked up in a warm smile. A small white scar ran across the bridge of their long nose, curling slightly underneath their left eye, stopping just before it reached their lower lid.

Thick shoulders stuck out of a black tank top, their toned arms covered in ghastly white scars. They wore a simple pair of grey jeans, the knees torn open to reveal their knees, which also seemed to house the same scars. 

Ellie grinned up at them both before pointing towards the table where the other three were still sitting quietly. 

“And that’s Poppy, Reth and Alex!” They nodded one by one as their names were called.

Poppy was a small girl, with shocking red hair that poured down her back in a loose braid, pale skinned with a rosy blush that seemed to be stuck to her cheeks and her upturned nose. She was wrapped up in a loose fitting black dress, her arms covered by a warm looking grey shawl, her red painted fingernails clinking nervously off her metal water bottle. When she looked up to nod at Mara her dark grey eyes seemed to cut into Mara’s soul and she felt herself lean back involuntary. 

Reth was sat across from Poppy, his matching granite eyes were softer and more welcoming than hers were. They were clearly related and Mara imagined these were the banshee siblings Gabriel had mentioned earlier. Despite the similarities, the striking grey eyes and the pale skin, Reth was very different from his sister, taller by almost a full head, more muscular, his nose was dented, obviously having been broken at some point in the past, and the smile that spread across his face when his eyes met Mara’s was friendly, unlike the stoic glance she’d received from Poppy. His head of choppy brown hair falling into his eyes and sticking out around his ears as pointing in every direction.

“Uh, Hi,” Mara mumbled sheepishly, reaching up to scratch the back of her neck. 

“I was expecting horns,” the last person at the table remarked, their tone playful. Mara’s eyes snapped up and found startling blue ones looking her up and down. 

Alex was sitting on top of the table, her black denim wrapped legs crossed at the ankles, her back hunched slightly as she leaned her elbows on her knees, her slender fingers interlaced together. Shoulder length brown hair fell around her soft beige face in smooth waves, her rosy coloured lips turned up in an amused smirk as her eyes drifted up to meet Mara’s. 

Well fuck. Is it even legal to be that pretty? Mara had to resist the urge to give herself a physical shake. Something about the girl took Mara’s breath away. 

It was the eyes. The striking, impossibly blue eyes that seemed to be staring right into her bones. Mara suddenly felt very exposed and she crossed her arms subconsciously to try and shield herself. She felt on edge all of a sudden like she was prey coming nose to nose with it’s hunter. 

“Alex! Don’t be rude!” Ellie hissed, her little eyebrows furrowing intensely, her words snapping Mara out of her daze.

“Oh relax. I’m teasing! It’s nice to meet you, Mara,” Alex shook her head, smiling fully now and Mara felt her heart stutter slightly. The girl had a stunning smile that light up her entire face, her blue eyes glinting in the sunlight and the strange, foreboding feeling in her gut vanished, replaced with the soft flutter of butterflies. It took Mara a second longer than normal to reply. 

“Yeah. Nice to meet you guys too,” Mara said quietly as she stood awkwardly next to Ellie and Levi. 

“Anyway,” Ellie chirped, her eyes darting in between Alex and Mara cautiously. “I came to get you guys so we can all grab dinner together! The dining hall should be open soon!” Ellie smiled at everyone, her cheeks puffing up while she looked at each of her friends. 

“Dinner sounds great! I’m starving!” Reth cheered excitedly, kicking Poppy’s foot from under the table and jumping to his feet. “Come on Pop! Let’s go eat!” 

“Sure,” The red haired girl mumbled quietly, her voice soft and delicate, a stark contrast to her energetic brother who was now skipping towards them. Poppy rose slowly to her feet, pulling her shawl around herself tightly as she walked over to stand behind Levi who was now grinning widely at Mara.

“Have you met our Almighty Mistress yet?” Levi quizzed as Alex unfolded her legs from behind them and hopped off the table. 

“Vale? Yeah. She’s ... something,” Mara scowled. 

“I’ll say. She’s a fucking bitch,” Alex laughed as they all turned to head back towards the house. “She give you the whole “we’re a family here” speech?” Alex asked as Mara fell into step with them all, Poppy and Rex trailing behind them, Ellie and Levi in front. 

“No, I didn’t get that pleasant sounding luxury. She did however make it very clear she’s not a fan of my, uh, heritage. So that’ll be fun to deal with,” Mara muttered, rolling her eyes dramatically. 

“Ah don’t let her get to you. She’s a bitch to anyone who’s not one of her toothy babies,” Alex laughed, baring her teeth as she spoke. “If you stick with us you wont even feel singled out, cause she’s an asshole to us too!” 

“That’s comforting. I think,” Mara nodded, not entirely sure how else to respond. So much for the best place in the country. It was starting to sound like being here was going to be more hassle than it was worth. If it was even worth it at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! To anyone who is reading this I just want to say THANK YOU! 
> 
> But Also not sure if this will continue in this format as I am considering turning it into a webcomic, which will be ALOT of work but hopefully worth it so I can get Mara's story out properly!


End file.
